Daily overtime
Covered nonexempt employees generally earn overtime after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a day.
California construction · Lab. Code § 510 · Wage Order 16, § 3
The general rule is time and one-half the employee’s regular rate for work beyond eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek. Work beyond 12 hours in a workday is paid at twice the regular rate. The statute does not require stacking multiple overtime rates for the same hour.
Seventh-day rules also apply: the first eight hours on the seventh consecutive day worked in a workweek generally receive time and one-half, and hours beyond eight receive double time. A workweek is the fixed, recurring seven-day period, not any rolling seven days.
Wage Order 16 covers specified on-site occupations, subject to its exemptions. A properly adopted alternative workweek or a qualifying collective-bargaining agreement can change the ordinary daily-overtime rules. The employee’s coverage and the actual schedule or agreement therefore matter.
Read the primary sources
Explore the reference
Prevailing wage
Covered public works require prevailing wages, including applicable benefit components, based on the work performed and the project’s location.
Travel & commute time
Employer-mandated travel after the first required reporting location is compensable under Wage Order 16, subject to its applicable CBA provision.
Meal & rest breaks
Covered employees generally receive a 30-minute meal period on shifts over 5 hours and paid 10-minute rest periods for each 4 hours or major fraction.